Wow! We've been everywhere this past week it seems. Every year there is a conference for Christian Camp Leaders (CCL) in January, and this year it was in Asheville, North Carolina. We usually go every other year, and this was our year to go. So, we planned to go and take our family, too. However, the conference was being held at The Cove (the Billy Graham trainging center) and they don't allow children. So Papa Gene and Gramma Kathy graciously offered to go along with us and stay in a hotel about five minutes from the conference center to keep the kids for us and to keep Carrie during the day. Hannah wanted to ride in the "rocket van" (that's what the Proctor cousins call Gene and Kathy's red van), so she and Carrie went with Gramma and Papa on the eight hour ride to Asheville, NC Monday morning. We had two extra people from camp in our van. So over the Smokies we went--I LOVE the Smokey Mountains! When we stopped for lunch at a Wendy's along the way, Hannah was talking to the lady cleaning tables, and at one point she stopped, looked up at the lady and said, "You look OLD!" Mike was speechless, but he quickly whispered to Hannah that she should say "you look nice." We got to the Cove, and there was an armed guard at the gate! He told us to "go to the top of that mountain, and your building will be on the right." So straight up the mountain we went, ears popping all the way. Just that short drive was so picturesque as there were a few deer beside the road and a family of turkeys. We dropped off our luggage and went to G&K's hotel to drop off their luggage and our kids, then we went back to the conference center. Gene and Kathy had a great time playing with the girls each day. They had two ajoining rooms so there was a little bit of room to run around and play. They did crafts and hide-and-seek and they fed them and put them to bed... What a blessing to have them along! They have such funny stories to tell about all the silly things the girls said and did! Everytime I went to the hotel to drop-off/pick-up Carrie they all seemed to be laughing and giggling!
Doug Aldrige from Ozark was the speaker for our main sessions for the week, and Andy Schroder was the worship leader. We met several new people and caught up with some friends we met in past years. Tuesday we spent more time in workshops and main sessions. Mike got a tour of the Cove's maintenance department. He was impressed that their twelve maintenance men each had their own personal leaf blower hanging on the wall in their shop. I drove around downtown Asheville and went to the Folk Art Center during our free time. Wednesday we went to the Biltmore Estate during our free time. What an impressive property! It was beautiful! Then we hurried back to the Cove to go hiking with our girls and G&K. We got permission for them to visit us there from Billy Graham's grandson himself, Will Graham, who is the Ass't Director of the Cove. The girls had a great time "hiking up a mountain" (Hannah had been asking to do that)! We hiked from our lodge to a chapel/visitor's center on the property. It was a beautiful hike! The next morning we checked out, and went to G&K's hotel to gather our things. We had lunch with them, and then we headed to Atlanta, GA to see a camp and a friend we've known through these conferences. Along the way there I heard Hannah sing this made-up song to her toys,
"Friends are friends eternallyyyy
Just like Ruth and Naomiiiii
Because that's what friends should beeeee
Cause friends are friends eternallyyyyy."
She made that up right then! She's been doing that a lot lately--making up rhymes and poems spontaneously! And Alli? Well, she tries to sing a song that we all know, but she gets the words all wrong; it's pretty funny to hear the combinations. She was singing the lullaby that I sing to the girls every night. It goes, "There's a tired little camper..." She sang it like this, "There's a tiger little candle..."
We got to Atlanta (through seven lanes of traffic) to the friends/camp we wanted to visit. They were so kind and hosted us at their home. They have four year old and ten month old sons. We spent the next day visiting and touring their camp. The pine trees there are amazing. Kevin (our friend) said they are Southern Yellow Pines, and they are at least 100 feet tall! They have this viney stuff that can grow all over everything. They call it Kudzoo. He said someone planted it as a ground cover, but it takes over entire fields, covering fences, trees, stumps, and everything in its path. We saw it a lot on the roadsides hanging from trees. And there was at least one pasture that was completely covered, acres of it! Anyway, we left there in the afternoon and drove to Murphysboro, TN and got a hotel room for the night. The next day we made it home in the afternoon. What a trip! We saw a lot of interstate, but it's good to have a little vacation. And will all that, We only got one picture of the Biltmore estate. Oh well, we have lots of memories!
